Flagler ponders costs to replenish destroyed dunes

Wednesday

BUNNELL — Flagler County officials think it will cost more than $57 million to restore the county's 18 miles of coastline battered by Hurricane Matthew.

And during a workshop this week, county officials began brainstorming a plan to finance reconstruction efforts to Flagler's deteriorated shores.

That plan will be largely contingent upon grants from outside agencies. And the prospect of being awarded funding for dune restoration and debris cleanup is one that includes a host of moving parts, with state and federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Transportation involved.

Several members of the Flagler Beach City Commission were on hand during Monday's session. County Commissioner David Sullivan urged county officials and those from all of the municipalities within Flagler to work as a united front in soliciting grant dollars for restoration.

"Unless we provide a unified plan for how we're going to fix this situation, it ain't going to work," he said. "If we've got individuals with different priorities and different interests going forward, we're not going to get the kind of money we're asking for."

County Administrator Craig Coffey laid out a plan that designates the county dunes into six segments — Flagler Beach, Painters Hill, Hammock Dunes, MalaCompra, and Washington Oaks Gardens State Park.

The county's 18-mile coastline includes a 2.6-mile stretch of surf in Flagler Beach near the pier that extends south to the county line. That is where portions of State Road A1A washed out during the storm.

In May, county officials approved an FDOT grant for design costs to begin the 50-year, $45-million project poised to bring beach re-nourishment and shoreline protection to that portion of the coast for. And the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both approved $31.6 million in federal funding for the effort in September as part of the Water Resources Development Act, a yearly bill that provides funding for a number of projects across the state and nation. But that money has yet to be appropriated, meaning the project is not in progress. Coffey said that detail means it's not classified as a "federalized project," one for which FEMA would cover 100 percent of the reimbursement costs.

Commission chair Nate McLaughlin said officials need to focus on securing matching funds for the county to ready Flagler for any state or federal grant, which he said will likely require them.

While the A1A washout has made Flagler Beach a poster child for Hurricane Matthew's impact in the area, some of the county's hardest hit areas are in the northern portion of Flagler. Hammock Dunes accounts for nearly $13.5 million of the estimated dune restoration costs, and Painters Hill could register another $10.4 million.

Coffey told the commissioners the county has already spent about $5 million to clean up debris from the storm, a dollar figure about $500,000 more than what the county allotted in its reserve funds for the fiscal year. He noted the county can use tax anticipation dollars as "float funding" until February, but said he thinks the county will ultimately have to borrow money until reimbursement funds from FEMA become available — an uncertainty likely to take months.

Unless the county can qualify for emergency disaster funding, any relief from the state wouldn't become available until July 1, when next year's state budget goes into effect. Meanwhile, Coffey explained, turtle nesting season begins May 1 and next year's hurricane season starts a month later. Both pose a direct threat to what officials described as a "vulnerable" coastline, which includes breached berms and dune lines. That reality puts hundreds of coastal homes and properties between Marineland and the Painter's Hill community at an increased risk of flooding or even falling directly into the ocean.

"We've just managed to dodge this bullet for over 100 years, but it's come on our watch gentlemen," McLaughlin said.

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